Grateful Prayer | Thankful Heart

Butterflies

By Lorraine

The gardens are busy places this time of year.
Full of critters (wanted and unwanted), birds and all sorts of flying insects.
Here are a few shots of butterflies on the buddleia bush.

This swallowtail has a damaged wing. Butterflies have many predators including ants, spiders, wasps, parasitic wasps, parasitic flies, birds, rats, toads, lizards, praying mantis, snakes and monkeys.  Their damaged wings do not seem to impede their mobility as I see them fluttering about just as though the wings were perfect.

Butterfly Wishes

Yesterday a butterfly
Came floating gently through the sky.
He soared up through the atmosphere
Then drifted close enough to hear.

I said, “I’d love to fly with you
And sail around the way you do.
It looks like it would be such fun
To fly up toward the summer sun.

But I have not your graceful charm.
I haven’t wings, just these two arms.
I’ve been designed to walk around.
My human feet must touch the ground.

Then magically he spoke to me
and told me what his wish would be.

He said, “What I’d love most to do
Is walk upon God’s Earth with you,
To squish it’s mud between my toes
Or touch my finger to my nose.

I’d love just once to walk around
With human feet to touch the ground,
But I have not two legs that swing,
I haven’t arms, just these two wings.”

And so we went our separate ways
In wonder and surprise.
For we’d both seen God’s precious gifts
Through someone else’s eyes.
Author Unknown 

This frontal view shows clearly the feeding mechanism which is a long double barreled tube called a proboscis. Because butterflies feed through what is essentially a double barreled straw, their diets are exclusively liquids.

The same butterfly from a different angle. 

Here are the stats on the first shot (the other photos are similar) 
Camera Canon EOS Digital Rebel
Exp: 1/320
Aperture: f/5.6
ISO: 400
Flash: not used
Editing:  Slight cropping,  bumped up contrast a bit and slight sharpening of image.

Comments

  1. bripolo12 says

    LOVE the butterfly pics. They are always one of my favorite subjects. Thank you for sharing them, they really are wonderful.

    Reply

  8. Valerie says

    Valerie said…
    Love those butterflies – and what a neat poem.

    I don't very often see the yellow swallow tails around here, in fact I have seen very few butterflies – this year and last year.
    I might just have to plant a butterfly bush!

    Reply

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